Google testing Material Design theme for desktop Search

It is rather about the looks that have undergone a change. Hence, it is a light gray background upon which the search results are depicted in a card layout. Also, while the card itself come in a white shade, there is a shadow applied as well to make the card looks a bit elevated, thereby highlighting it further.

Another significant change being introduced is the way Google displays its Knowledge Graph results. Rather, it is the placement that has undergone a change as those now are included as part of the vertical section that houses the main search results. Earlier, those would be added along the side of the primary results.

It again should make it easier, for users to grasp the entire search page on devices with slightly smaller displays, like a tablet or two-in-one devices. On the flip side, though, the search page itself gets stretched a bit, which means more scrolling to be done.

Other changes introduced, though minor, include the setting cog wheels being replaced by three vertically aligned dots. Similarly, the search icon that so far used to be depicted by a magnifying glass sporting a white and blue color scheme has been replaced by a gray and white color combo.

The above feature is still being fine-tuned, though, which means it is a limited set of people that are getting to sample the change before it is rolled out on a wider scale. What is also intriguing is that Google has taken this long to introduce Material Design to what can inarguably be its biggest and also the most famous of its products, that is online search. YouTube made it to the Material Design club just a few weeks.

Google had initially introduced Material Design during the launch of Android Lollipop back in 2014.